Cannes 2010: 'Blue Valentine'

Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine brings together two of Hollywood's top acting talents - Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams - for a romantic drama charting one couple's union over the course of several years. Two parallel timelines run: one in the present as Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) begin their relationship, the second as both are trying to stay together for their kid Frankie (Faith Wladyka). As Cianfrance flicks back-and-forth through time, the optimism of the couples's nascent relationship in the past gives way to buried anguish and regret in the present.

The film is beautifully acted by Gosling and Williams, and Wladyka is that rare child performer who appears natural and never in 'acting' mode. It's a pretty draining experience, though, because even when times are good there's always a dark cloud on the horizon. Cindy falls pregnant by Bobby (Mike Vogel) just days before meeting Dean, but they start a romance and - after a traumatic scene at an abortion clinic - decide to raise the child together.

Blue Valentine's characters gradually shift positions over the course of the movie. Gosling's Dean is initially charming and hopeful but slips into borderline alcoholism (he thinks a job where he can drink at 8am is a bonus) and lethargy. Counter to that, Williams's Cindy is the girl almost-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks who becomes more sympathetic by the end. It's a heartbreaking drama, no more so when the couple escape their daughter for a night and shack up in the "future room" of a theme hotel in an awkward bid to rekindle their romance. Cianfrance allows his actors plenty of room to shape the characters, making up for a lack of background detail in the script, and the film rides on the coattails of Gosling and Williams's awards-worthy performances.



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